Marvel's What If?
by Moonraker One
Summary: The Watcher, privy to worlds where events did not go as they did in your memory, will take you on a journey of alternate universe, alternate history, and alternate storylines.
1. Chapter 1

What If Lindy had become The Sentry instead of Robert?  
By Moonraker One

The Watcher stood poised over the multiverse. An unending cascade of images passed by his eyes. He moved his gaze across several of the images. A familiar scene played in front of his face. "In your reality," he spoke to an unknown listener, "a young, schizophrenic high school teen named Robert Reynolds sneaks into the laboratory of his professor, who is working on a top secret project known as 'Project Sentry.' Not knowing what the liquid he stumbles across is, young Robert steals it and drinks it, intending to get high. In that aspect, he succeeded; his body inherited an enormous power which turned the frail lad into a powerful being known as 'The Sentry.' Unfortunately, his tale is rather tragic."

Images of destruction on a massive scale then appeared. New York as well as several other cities destroyed by a shadowy presence flashed one after another. The Watcher continued. "Due to the nature of the power being controlled psychically by Robert's own mind, his darker personality known as 'The Void' gained control and led the golden guardian on a rampage, killing millions. After many years of struggling with himself, it all came to a close at the end of Norman Osborn's siege of Asgard when the Sentry was struck down by Thor, ending the rage of the void once and for all. His charred corpse was then tossed into the sun."

The cascade of images passed by until it stopped once more at a separate viewing location. "But I am privy to other realities, where events did not occur the same way. So, having bore witness to the tragic tale of Robert Reynolds, the Sentry, one inevitably asks, 'What if Lindy had instead become the Sentry?'"

Everything turned white all of a sudden as the Watcher, poised atop the multiverse, disappeared.

CHAPTER ONE

Pop!

Everyone turned to look as a test tube shattered when its contents detonated. The afternoon chemistry class's students couldn't help but stare as a young woman named Lindy Lee had accidentally mixed the wrong chemicals together. Some of them inevitably drew laughter from it. She frowned as she swept the pieces into a dustpan to dispose of. When she went to take the dustpan to the glass disposal, one of her fellow classmates politely offered to take it for her. He smiled awkwardly and blushed a bit as he quickly moved off, almost running into another student in his hurriedness. _He's kind of clumsy_, she thought. _Robert's always kind of weird_. She got back to trying the experiment again.

Robert Reynolds had a crush on Lindy. She always seemed to be the type to fall for jocks, but he secretly wanted her. So, he used any opportunity he could to get her attention. As he dumped the broken shards into the glass disposal, he looked through one of the doors, craning his neck around the corner, to see one of the professor's aides putting a glowing vial into a locking cabinet. The aide noticed him, and quickly shut and locked the door. As much as it intrigued him, he went back to his desk and stared at Lindy. She noticed him once or twice and he looked away quickly each time, blushing.

Being the final period of the day, all the students filed out of the school and towards the bus stop. Lindy lived a considerable distance away from the school, so her parents drove her to school. As she got in her parents car, she looked questioningly at Robert, who was walking away from the buses. He appeared to be slightly quivering and was scratching himself vigorously on the side of his head. She had seen films on drug abuse, so she immediately recognized the symptoms he showed. This, however, confused her; he always was a quiet boy who largely stayed to himself.

Robert's head twitched slightly as he walked home. The sensation of bugs crawling on his flesh started to come back. _Shit_, he thought. _I have to hit it again_. He partially blamed himself for his addiction, having listened to his friends. He tried to quit several times, each of which resulted in a blackout. After his parents took him to a psychiatrist and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia-which he told no one-the last thing he wanted was more blackouts. One of his friends having given him an impure dose nearly killed him. So, he wasn't going to trust them anymore; he wanted to find his own supplier. What intrigued him, though, was that chemical that the professor had locked in the cabinet. _I have to see what that shit does,_ he decided.

"So, Lindy, what happened at school today?" her mother asked her.

"I mixed the chemicals wrong and it ruined the experiment we were working on in science class," she explained.

Her father almost turned around before he realized he was driving. "My god, are you alright? Did you get burned or anything?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that." She went through her pack. "Oh, and I got an A on the history exam."

"That's great!" her mother replied. "You always make us proud, honey."

"You were looking at that boy, Lindy," her father said, "do you know him or something?"

"No," she responded. "He's just a boy that goes to my science class. He's been having trouble lately. He always has these bloodshot eyes, and he's been itching an awful lot lately."

The mother folded her arms and sighed. "He's probably a stoner. His parents should be ashamed! How do you not notice these things?"

"Kids these days," the father replied. "I bet whatever he's on is just a gateway to even worse drugs. You just watch! One of these days, he's going to be found dead in a ditch, and his parents won't know how it happened."

Lindy shrugged. "I feel sorry for him; he always looks so lonely."

"You can't be sorry for these people," the mother shot back. "That's how they stay in the cycle of abuse."

The only cycle that Robert felt at that moment, walking solemnly home from school, was the cycle of scratching to make the withdrawal symptom bugs go away, and then them coming back again. On his way home, he saw two familiar figures approach him. Both of them were former friends of his, and his main suppliers. He frowned as he looked at them. "Damn it, guys, after you damn near killed me, I don't want any more of your stuff," he warned. "I'll find my own stash." He continued on.

The taller and scruffier looking of the two draped his arm around Robert. "Now, don't be like that, Reynolds," he coached. "We got the same bad shit you did. We've got some better stuff this time around." The other circled around to Robert's other side.

"Just fifteen dollars. I'm being nice. You can get some of our best yet!"

Robert stopped. He was adamant. "I am done with you guys. Leave me alone. I'm not going to almost die again."

The shorter one pushed Robert backwards. He stumbled but caught himself. "You don't burn bridges, Reynolds. You don't know what you're doing."

The taller one gestured with his thumb. "You're jonesing. How do you expect to find a stash in time to make the symptoms go away?"

"I'm done!" he shouted.

They left, grudgingly. "You're seriously going to regret it."

He walked on. _As soon as it's dark_, he thought. Whatever _is in that tube, I'm going to take a shot of; it has to do something_.

He tried his best to stifle the evidence of withdrawal symptoms. If his parents noticed again, he'd be looking at several weeks of grounding. Fortunately, his mother somehow didn't notice him desperately trying to ignore the painful itching. Also, his father was still at work. "How was school, Robert?" she asked.

"Good," he lied. "I'm improving my test scores in math; it's up to an 89 now." He headed upstairs.

"Are you going to eat?" she asked. "I've got a meal for you."

He put on his best fake smile. "Can I take it upstairs? I have so much homework to do."

She smiled and nodded, and he took his food upstairs. Once he was in his room, he vigorously scratched his arms and neck. Somehow, he managed to put down the food without spilling a great deal of it. From there, it was a simple matter of waiting for his father to come home, and putting on the act once more. After they fell for the act, and then fell asleep, he climbed out of his room through the window, and down the ladder on the side of the house to the ground. He froze in place several times, listening carefully to make sure no one could hear him. He knew most of the shortcuts through town, and that meant that he would be able to pass through several yards unhindered and it would put him on school grounds in a matter of minutes. Slowly pushing his bicycle out of the back yard, he wheeled it about fifty yards from home, then started pedaling. Turning off the sidewalk and into the woods led him through the first shortcut. He passed through several areas of bushes before exiting the woods near the rear houses of an expensive subdivision.

Lindy, sleeping with her window open to get some fresh air, heard a crunch. She pulled herself from the bed and approached the window. She saw Robert, on his bicycle. The way he was going, she knew exactly where he was headed: the school. Yet, she didn't understand why. Perhaps, she figured, he headed there to meet for a drug deal. Being the caring soul she was, she wanted to help him by talking him out of it. Quietly, she crept downstairs as quiet as she could, and exited the front door.

Robert made his way to the school in surprising time. The back door had no security padlocks on it, just the basic door lock. This enabled him to enter with one swift kick. The whole time, if he hadn't been single-mindedly focused on getting high, he might have marveled at the lack of security on the premises. The office sat five doors down the hallway on the left. He opened it with another kick. The locked cabinet presented only slight difficulty; the glass was old and already had a crack in it from the air conditioning. Possibly the biggest high of his life and so far, absolutely no hindrances had presented themselves. The vial in his hand, he didn't want to drink it right inside the chemistry lab, because if he passed out they'd suspect him right away. So, he went outside; that way, he would at least not be in the chemistry lab. Stopping out behind several bushes, he popped the lid off and tilted his head back. This was it; a mere moment away from heaven.

"Robert! What are you doing?"

He almost tripped from surprise. Shocked and extremely embarrassed, he looked and saw a familiar dark blonde-haired girl standing opposite him. "L…Lindy! I…What are you doing here?"

She folded her arms and adopted a stern look. "I came looking for you. I knew you were headed to the school. Apparently, you _are_ a junkie, just like I thought."

He shifted his feet several times, embarrassed. He ducked eye contact. "Come on, Lindy, I know I've got a problem, but if I don't get high, I feel bad. You don't know what it's like to feel bugs crawling on you that aren't there."

She approached him. "If you don't get cleaned up, Robert, you aren't going to live to see senior year. Are you okay with that?"

"Well, what do we have here?" an unexpected voice cried out. The two from earlier, the ones who'd sold Robert a bad stash, approached. "It looks like Bob came out looking for a high after all! I thought you'd be here."

He stammered backwards. "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

The tall one replied, "I need money for more stuff. I figured a school would have something worth stealing."

"Damn it, guys," Lindy shot back, "can't you leave him alone? I'm trying to talk him out of a huge mistake here."

They ignored her. "Hey, whatcha got there, Robert? Let me see."

He tried to pull back against his former supplier. "No! I found it first!"

The tall one stomped on Robert's foot, causing him to release the vial. "I can't believe you'd go so far as to drink some chemical whipped up in a school chemistry lab!"

His friend gave him an idea. "Let's see what it does…on her!"

Lindy backtracked. "You assholes leave me alone! I'm not involved in whatever business you have with anyone!"

Robert saw them walking towards Lindy with bad intentions. In a desperate attempt to control the damage, he jumped on the back of the one closest to Lindy. He struggled to knock the guy off his feet, but got bashed against a tree and he fell semiconscious. She attempted to run from them, but got caught. "You're in the wrong place, girly!" As the shorter one held her in place, she screamed. Attempting to bite to prevent the vial being shoved in her mouth, she avoided the liquid for almost a minute. Then, the taller one punched her in the abdomen, causing her to open her mouth. Before she could recover, he shoved the vial in her mouth and tilted it backwards. They let her go as soon as the vial was empty.

She could see and feel nothing at first. It was as if she stood in a black emptiness. Then, all of a sudden, golden light surrounded her and entered her, emanating from every part of her. Her vision returned to the normal world as every cell of her body felt ready to burst as a tingling energy entered them. Within a few moments, the golden glow of her body reached almost daylight levels, and every part of her felt burning. Robert gained consciousness and took off running. The two were too entranced by what was going on to move. It was the final mistake they would make in their lives.

She tried to yell for them to run, but before the words could come out, her cells could take no longer and she, as one mass of glowing energy, exploded. Robert, having gotten almost clear of the area, was thrown several feet. Both of the dealers were vaporized immediately. The school was rocked by the blast, and the sound could be heard all the way across town. Once the dust started to settle, the golden energy that had exploded coalesced into a glowing mass, and out of it formed, once more, the body of Lindy Lee.

As she stood up out of a crater that had formed, she stumbled around a bit. As everything became clearer in her vision, she brushed dust out of her eyes, and noticed her hand. It was much bigger than she remembered. "What the…" she thought out loud. Looking down at her body, she noticed her entire frame had become much bigger. Where she was previously a diminutive woman possessed of small frame, she stood now an Amazon-esque six feet three inches. She had muscles that would put female bodybuilders to shame, and her previously flat, uncurved figure now more closely resembled an hourglass. _What the fuck is going on?_ She wondered. As the police sirens echoed, she decided to take off running, to flee before unwanted attention came.

The moment she ran, there was a blur and she came to a stop after tripping and smashing through several trees at high velocity. Looking behind her after standing back up, the brief couple steps she'd taken had put her a quarter mile from the school. She looked at her hands once more. _That formula thing…it gave me…abilities_? She dashed once again. This time, she focused her eyes, and the blur went away, allowing her to see her surroundings. She weaved through the forest at unimaginable velocities and within three seconds, found her house. Just as quickly, she dashed into her room.

She paced back and forth. _I can't look like this_, she thought. _I'll attract too much attention if I look like this!_ As if to respond to her thoughts, the golden energy evaporated from her body and rematerialized as a sphere of power inside her mind. It returned her to her small form, and she quickly removed her torn clothes, and put on a nightgown. Somehow, as she fell asleep, the information came to her in the form of a voice.

"I am the part of your mind that has been asleep all this time," the gentle voice spoke in her brain. "You see, all humans have the potential to be psychic, but it usually takes something to activate it. The serum you've been given has granted you incredible powers and you can use your psychic power to activate it at will."

"Who are you?" she thought.

"The power of the serum responds to the user's personality. You genuinely want to help people. So the part of your conscience that is your desire to help has been given shape. I am, a sentry of sorts. I watch over the people. I am you; my power is yours to use. You see, because I am you, I cannot act without your body. So, think of me as the better part of you, empowered."

She suddenly thought of Robert. "Wow," she thought. "Imagine if drug-addicted Robert Reynolds had taken the serum."

She had no clue of the events to unfold.

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 2


	2. Chapter 2

What If Lindy had become The Sentry instead of Robert?  
By Moonraker One

CHAPTER TWO

In the months that followed the incident that led to Lindy Lee unwillingly drinking the formula, a complex series of events unfolded. The lab was completely shut down after that semester's chemistry class had ended. Upon the department that funded Project Sentry learning of the ultimate fate of the formula, scrapped any idea they had of ever making the formula again. Lindy became a celebrity to the military intelligence community overnight; suddenly, there were reports of a teenage girl, a freshman in high school, no less, who had been granted the powers of a god. The Department that ran the project initially attempted to keep her a secret, but her desire to use her abilities to help people eventually forced them to let her go. They also had tried to kill her seven times in the first two months after her empowerment, but they did their best to forget that ever happened.

In her early years, she fought a number of villains that were not especially noteworthy. Among them, a crazy ex-military officer codenamed The General, who always came up with some of the least intelligent schemes imaginable. Also, she had to deal with villains of the other heroes as well. When the Fantastic Four's enemy Doctor Doom posed a threat to New York, she was there to put a stop to him. She ended the Hulk's rampage, not with death, but by befriending him. An alien nuclear device threatened the entire world, and she threw it into deep space. She had, in all, saved countless millions of lives; and she did it all before she was old enough to drink.

She considered those years part one of her career; the getting used to her powers phase.

"Alright, Mrs. Reynolds," a polite, yet powerful voice said to her. "Clear your mind of all your worries and focus on the psychic plane; it is a separate place entirely from reality. Only those of us with mental powers can reach it." The man was Charles Xavier, and he had several years earlier started an institute for the purpose of training and mentoring young mutants and empowered humans to both use their powers and to respect each other.

"Thanks for seeing me," she said, closing her eyes. "I've got an hour before I'm set to go to a correspondence dinner with my husband Robert."

She felt her consciousness leave her body. She saw a large field of almost endless expanse, and just about every color imaginable. As she stepped across the land, an avatar of Charles Xavier approached her. "As you can see, Lindy, here, our mental avatar isn't limited by our physical body. Here, your vast might isn't going to help you as much as the might of your mind and your will." He held up his hands, gesturing for her to enter a grapple with him; she agreed.

Clasping her hands against his, the two pushed strongly against each other. "Wow, professor!" She commented, using her all just to equal his force. "Your mind is powerful! I can't even make ground against you!"

"That's because of a simple fact," he said, answering her. "You have unimaginable power; your strength can literally move mountains. Your eyes can melt through the hardest metals in seconds. But here, on the psychic plane, is where your might fails you. Against a powerful telepath, you don't have much of a defense. That's what we're working on."

Out of nowhere, her concentration almost broke. It took a sudden influx of psychic will to remain on the mental plane. Her physical body had been tickled. "What's going on, professor?"

"This is our second lesson after last time," he answered. "Last time, we taught how to prevent your mind from being invaded. Today, we teach an equally important lesson. You might have to fight someone who has both mental and physical powers, just like you do. In such a case, you will have to fight them both in the real world, and here, on the psionic plane." He pushed back against her avatar. "Focus on both being conscious here, and in your body, and you should be able to avoid the feather that one of my students is holding."

She fought back against Xavier's mental strength, and at the same time, slowly regained control of her physical body. It felt extremely strange at first, being aware of both the mental plane and what her physical senses were telling her. As she stood up from the seat, and avoided the student holding the feather like a knife, she also had to contend with Professor X trying to topple her mental image.

"This feels weird," she explained. "It feels like they're two different me's instead of me in two places."

"A psychic gets used to that eventually," Xavier assured her.

Almost forty-five minutes of struggling back and forth, while she avoided being tickled, and still keeping control of her psychic self, passed. When the session ended, Xavier reached up and shook her hand from his wheelchair, and thanked her. She thanked him back for teaching her how to use her psionic powers, and took off after climbing out the window. Ascending high into the sky to avoid the speeds doing damage to cities, she made it back to the Watchtower in a second.

"Robert!" she called out. "Are you dressed? Because I'm ready."

Robert stepped out of one of the rooms. "Yeah, honey, I've got my suit on."

She used her super-heightened senses to check him for drugs. "You're clean, right?" she asked.

He squinted. "It's been eight weeks so far," he replied. "I think the new treatment is working out fine. I haven't wanted to get high for awhile."

She hugged him before they left. "Just be strong, Robert; I don't want you to relapse like you did last time." He then draped his arm around her neck, and she supported him by the waist, and flew out of the tower. Passing most of the New York City skyline, they soon reached the auditorium that the note had said to go to. She touched down and the two of them got escorted in by Reed Richards, ahead of several dozen people who were waiting in line to have their identity checked. Lindy noticed Spider-Man in line.

"Come on…" she checked the security guard's name tag, "Jake. Let Spider-Man in. I think he's earned his place to be let in at this meeting."

He smiled and motioned for Peter Parker to be allowed entrance. "If you say so, Sentry," he cheerfully said.

Robert and her found their way to a pre-marked table at the front near the stage. After about twenty minutes, most of those in line had been identified and were at their seats. The lights dimmed and Iron Man took the stage. He retracted the helmet of his suit. "Sorry if I didn't wear a tux," he joked, "but I was in a hurry and this was the only thing that was clean." Everyone laughed. He began his speech. "Almost all of you know who I am, if you don't, I'm Iron Man, and I, along with Mister Fantastic, called this meeting."

A screen descended behind him. "Our main piece of business is the discussion of a new energy source pioneered by Mister Fantastic and myself, but before we get to that, let me get something out of the way." He motioned to Lindy. "Today is the birthday of our guest of honor, The Sentry!"

She got out of her seat and got up on the stage. "Now Tony," she said, taking a microphone, "this whole 'energy source' discussion wasn't just a ploy to throw me a surprise party, was it?"

Iron Man gave her a look. "No, not at all, Sentry," he joked, "actually, I just wanted to have an excuse to give food and beverage to the superpowered community."

She bowed her head, smiling. "How can we forget the incomparable deeds of The Sentry?" Reed Richards said to everyone, which garnered an ovation. "This is the same woman that helped us fight off Galactus when he tried to devour the Earth!"

Various images of her deeds displayed on the screen behind them. "She has saved countless lives, and we're here to celebrate her on her special day!" Iron Man added.

She took the microphone again. "Thank you so much, my friends," she said. "I know people call me the 'Golden Guardian of Good,' but I feel so humbled just to be able to know that I work with such wonderful men and women. I'm glad I could be an example for fellow superheroes to follow, and also be a symbol of women's rights. Thank you."

"Everyone can now form a single file line for the cake," Iron Man announced.

She wiped a tear. "I never would've expected this, Tony. This is absolutely amazing. You got just about all the main superheroes."

"We had to celebrate one of the best with a party," Reed explained. "And I also wanted to ask you for a favor."

It got her attention. "Oh? Sure. What is it?"

"The energy reactor Stark Industries made using Reed's assistance is going to make energy a lot cheaper for countries that desperately need cheaper energy," Iron Man answered. "Some of these are countries that are horribly oppressive towards women, and we thought that it would be a huge gesture if you would do the honors of installing the reactors."

"Now," Reed continued, "I know how you are about things that distract you from saving lives, but these countries won't be able to refuse our technology without looking bad in front of the entire international community. Also, we feel it'll make things more transparent, if you catch my drift."

She folded her arms. "You want me to spy on these countries?"

"No, not at all," Iron Man said. "Our spy satellites catch all the military stuff. You can use your super senses, in conjunction with the lenses you'll be wearing, to record examples of human rights violations that our spy network isn't interested in. It'll finally provide the United Nations with evidence that these countries are abusing people."

She brightened up. "Well, if that's the case, then I'll be glad to do it." She tilted her head to the left. "Excuse me a moment, guys. I'll be right back. I hear something."

Tony checked his scanners. "Is it nearby? Because Jarvis hasn't reported anything."

She focused her psychic will very carefully in conjunction with her super hearing. "It's not nearby; Abomination is attacking a military prison transport in southern Navada." She took off.

"Someone send help!" an officer cried into a radio. "This…creature…has attacked our transport! Eight of the inmates died instantly when he ripped through the bus, and the rest are fleeing for their lives! Oh god, he's coming back!" The officer dropped the radio and covered his head as he heard thundering footsteps approaching him. He expected to hear the sound of his bones crunching.

The footsteps stopped. He looked up to see what was going on. A goddess stood in front of him. "Hello, Emil," Lindy said to the gamma mutant, her arms folded. Even though the mighty Abomination towered over her, even he stood apprehensive of the six foot three woman. "Mind telling me what you're doing, before I send you to la-la land?"

His rage thundered as he picked up the front of the bus and smashed it against the ground. "I've been double-crossed! Now he's going to pay!"

"Of course he's going to pay if he's a part of this transport," Lindy shot back. "But not at the hands of an angry giant."

"You want to test my power, Sentry?" Emil Blonsky boasted.

"Before the Hulk became friends with me, I stopped a rampage of his by breaking his arms, which tends to have a calming effect," she said, countering his boast. "Just think about that for a moment."

Mentioning the Hulk had the opposite effect of her intent. It only served to make him want to strike her. He launched forth with all his leg strength and swung a straight punch right for her head. Lindy sighed, and launched forward with her strength. The two of them collided, sending pieces of metal and the people flying. She absorbed several mighty punches before flying into his sternum with a sideways kick, which staggered him. Finally, she put him to sleep by bashing her closed fists against the sides of his head like banging two cymbals together. He collapsed with a powerful thud against the ground.

"We owe you our lives, ma'am," the officer at the radio said. "Could you help us with the escaped…" a blur later and there was a pile of tied up inmates in front of him, "…prisoners?"

She smiled. "Is there anything else?"

He looked around. A series of military vehicles approached with sirens. "No, ma'am, it looks like our support just arrived. Could you take care of…that?"

"Sure thing." She scooped up Abomination. "It's not a birthday without a present, after all." She took off.

After about ten seconds of flying, she smacked Blonsky in the face to wake him up. "Uh…errh! Where am I?" he looked below him and saw the ocean. "You'll regret this!"

She pulled him close to her face. "Take a deep breath," she warned. Then she dropped him into the Atlantic ocean. Quickly, she flew back to New York.

Tony was waiting for her. "We saved the biggest piece of cake for you. So, what happened out there with Abomination?"

"It's a shame I wasn't able to get there before eight people died, Blonsky was looking for someone. I didn't have time to ask him who, before he tried to charge and I had to knock him out."

"What did you do with him?" Reed asked.

She shrugged. "I took him for a swim about fifty miles from coastline."

"He'll show up eventually. In the meantime, why don't you enjoy the rest of your party? We'll get the preparations ready for the transport of the machines tomorrow."

After the celebration, she and her husband retired to the Watchtower to discharge from the public event. Lindy went out and fought crime and saved lives, with the computer Cloc prioritizing the various events for her to go to. Robert went to a daily therapy session and then exercised for a bit with the television on. The whole time he ran on the treadmill, he thought of the early years. He thought back to several years earlier, the beginning of high school. It was startling to him, sometimes, how much had changed in less than a decade. They were about to reach the height of the mid-twenties, and yet, the world seemed radically different. It absolutely blew his mind that the chemical concoction that he almost drank turned out to be the key to almost unlimited power. It simultaneously made him envious and nervous; if he had taken the formula, he would've been able to experience all the splendors of power, but at the same time, he knew that he had a mental disorder. He realized time and time again, that he would've not been the worshipped hero his wife became when she used her powers to help people; even if he had been of good intentions, he just knew in his gut it would've turned out bad. Plus, he got other fringe benefits from being a weak human married to an almost-goddess; she made lots of money as a superhero that enabled him to do virtually anything he wanted, so he didn't have to work as hard as others.

While Lindy flew around the globe at high velocities, saving people's lives, her thoughts inevitably turned to the responsibility. Few things gave her quite as much joy as seeing the look in someone's face as they were being saved, but also, few things gave her so much grief as how the news media would often exploit her to make a story. They would talk about how her costume should look, they would talk about how she wasn't a good role model because she didn't have to exercise to look a certain way, they would talk about how she frequently worked with and supported mutants. It always bothered her. She knew it was a minor complaint considering that she was such a savior to so many people, but it got to her on more than one occasion that there were people who were only acting like they had the moral high ground so they could make money off of cutting her down.

"Help!"

As she was flying over one of the states of the midwestern United States, she managed to hear the scream of someone. Flying downward, and slowing her pace, she saw the target: ten miles from where she came to a stop, a young boy of thirteen was surrounded by weapon-wielding older teens. She approached.

"You can't hide from us, mutant!" the oldest male said, yelling. "We saw you make that wall explode!"

The boy couldn't run from his broken leg. "Come on! It just happened! How could I have done it?"

The one next to the leader stepped forward. "Because I was watching you. You snapped your fingers, you did."

The leader moved ahead with his axe in his hand. "And you mutants are ruining this nation!" He drew his axe above his head. With his muscles tensed, he brought it down. The young boy on the receiving end covered his eyes in nervous fear of what was to come.

Instead of flesh and bone being cut, the sound of steel breaking echoed. The young boy looked up to see a tall, muscular woman standing between the others and he. "Now, people," Lindy said, sternly, "let's not hurt each other."

The others stood in abject fear. "Uh, Todd? It's that chick…the Sentry! We should run!"

Their leader stood defiant. "Or she'll what? _Kill_ us? Don't make me laugh. She's one of the goody two shoes 'superheroes.' She can't do us any harm."

She gripped his right hand tightly. "No, you're right. I can't kill you. But, I can squeeze right now and pulverize the bones of this hand," she explained. "I'm willing to bet that even _with_ insurance, your family is looking at thirty, forty thousand dollars plus in medical expenses." She saw him began to whimper. "Your family doesn't have medical insurance, do they?" She got close to his face. "Go home."

"B…but," he uttered, "mu…mutants are killing this world! They're creations of the devil!"

"No," she corrected him, "they're creations of evolution. Or they're creations of God, choose your pick. Either way, look at it like this: it's genetic." She pointed at him and sneered. "_You_ might turn out to be a mutant. Or your friends. Then what? You'll take an _axe to their head_?...!"

They turned and ran. She gave them one last angry look as they fled before turning her attention to the boy. No one was coming to help; she knew that with her heightened senses. "You're going to be okay. Your vital organs are fine, you just have a broken leg," she said, attempting to calm him. She made a splint in a hurry and wrapped it around his leg with his jacket. "I'm going to take you to the nearest hospital." She carefully lifted him into her arms. In a blur, they were gone.

Not five minutes later, thanks to her clout, they were in the local hospital, and she sat next to his bed. "So, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

He smiled. "Quinn Erickson," he answered. He leaned in and asked a question that took her by surprise. "You probably had some huge disaster to take care of with dozens of people dying. How'd you figure to save me?"

She hadn't expected such a question. "I was nearby, and you needed help. I wasn't going to ignore you just because you were one person. Sure, there are crises in the world that I probably wasn't at, but people have to rely on themselves at least once. You weren't able to help yourself."

"I'm surprised I got seen," he said. "People around here are big anti-mutant believers. And I…well, you know."

She let out a sigh. "It's a shame that the only reason you were seen ahead of five or six people who didn't have a serious problem, is because the Sentry brought you in." She pat him on the shoulder. "But don't worry, I'm not going to leave until they're done."

He looked sorrowed. "But what about tomorrow or while I'm healing?"

She thought a moment. "I think I know someone who can take care of your problem." She stood up, excusing herself from the room for a moment. "I'll be right back." She activated the earpiece in her ear. "Cloc, I need you to do me a favor."

The computer responded immediately. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Get me Charles Xavier; I've got a friend for him." She looked behind her at the injured young boy and saw an opportunity to make a leap forward with mutant-human relations.

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 3


End file.
